By any standards the economy of Ireland , North and South , can be described as being in a sorry mess with crisis , recession and imminent bankruptcy the most constant themes of economic discussion , intermittently over the last decade and ceaselessly in the last three years . In this article , Peter Graham surveys the factors which have produced this economy , and the historical role of foreign and native Irish capital.

From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.

At the same time , the extension of the welfare state from Britain into the North of Ireland held the lid on its enormous social deprivation , and further distanced comparisons between it and the 26 Counties for at least three decades .

Still , the Six Counties' position as the 'outermost region' of the so-called 'United Kingdom' economy left it increasingly weaker in relation to 'other' regions , with unemployment rates always substantially up on Britain's and economic growth lagging far behind , its ailments largely ignored by a preoccupied Westminster .

The explosion of civil unrest in the late 1960's , developing into a renewed war of national liberation ('1169...' Comment - ...which is what it is to some of us, whilst others [including the SDLP and this shower] seek only better treatment from the British crown) , has since scared off much investment capital from the North , such as it was , and has left British public spending as the temporary 'growth industry' . Even this though has been increasingly cut back in the three years of Margaret Thatcher's monetarism.......(MORE LATER).

DIVIS FLATS : Building Towards A Demolition Campaign ....... Divis Flats , at the bottom of the Falls Road in West Belfast , have acquired a reputation for 'trouble' - of all kinds - and social deprivation ever since they were built in the 1960's . They have also endured some of the severest British repression meted out during the past 14 years , and replied with some of the fiercest resistance . Local resident and community activist Jim Faulkner examines the new resurgence of morale in the flats complex and the prospects it faces in its biggest battle yet - for total demolition . From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .

Divis Flats' agonising housing and environmental conditions have forced sixty-four per cent of householders surveyed to apply for a transfer out of the flats . About fifty per cent want to be rehoused within the Divis area , twenty per cent would be prepared to move to other estates in Nationalist West Belfast and the remaining thirty per cent would be prepared to move outside the Divis area but would want to remain within the lower Falls area .

If these statistics accurately reflect the preferences of Divis residents , they are an important guide to the future planning strategies of the Divis Residents' Association, which has the task of taking action on behalf of local people to secure the demolition of the flats....... (MORE LATER).